Basic Track
Feedback #1 – You mention Addhor's younger brother early on, but not how their relationship potentially shifted later after Addhor's injury and career change. What might have changed ?
There was actually very little time for the two brothers together, following Addhor’s injury. The elder’s bold career which had been meant to convince Domanol that a Ranger could come home safely, had rather failed, although Addhor did come home. Domanol was more aghast than afraid in the face of what had happened, and lit out with courageously ambitious intentions (and his brother’s sword) to enlist with the Rangers himself, prematurely. He had not even finished school.
He took the family sword, and told little Unalmis where he was going, so the child could relay the message once he was far enough away for his family to stop him. He had known that Orcs were out there and that Orcs were evil of course, but naïve hopes of striking back against those Orcs, and Mordor, for especially ruining his brother’s life and causing such upheaval in their family, well .. obviously his mother went after him when she realised what had happened. But the Rangers whom Domanol had gone to take up with had set out for an investigation in Harondor and neither they nor he ever came home. There was not even any real certainty he had gone with them, but it was the only lead they found. This was more the catalyst for Addhor’s self pity and dejection in the years after, blaming himself for his brother’s rash decision and presumed death. He was more devastated at Domanol’s departure, than his wife’s departure, that same year.
It was a really bad year for Addhor !
Basic Track
Prompt # 2 - Who was your character's first love ? Why were they drawn to them ?
Addhor never had much interest in romance or girls for a long time, as his primary concern was being a surrogate father figure for his younger brother. Asides from his schooling, his time was taken up with helping out at home. His mother worked long hours and could not always be there for the boys, though she provided for them. The fact that Addhor married at all was completely unplanned, as was almost everything about his major romantic relationship. Alcohol was certainly an deeply enabling influence. But there may have been a want for affection he wasn't getting elsewhere, and I expect a large part of it was down to 'doing what was expected' albeit in a little less thought out manner than was wise. I'm blaming a delayed sense of finding himself grown and away from home and things all got rather carried away.
Her name was Luisa and she and some friends had recently moved to Pelargir to embark upon worthwhile careers so they could send money back to their families and potentially find themselves husbands. They all did, in a single night. Addhor and some of his friends were in Pelargir on leave from their Ranger duty in Ithilien, and they met up with the group of young women who were similarly enjoying their new found independence. A blend of alcohol, excitement and peer pressure, combined with the fact that the Rangers went for months at a time without seeing a woman, all led to a rather faster progression of romance than was very wise. Four of the young Rangers were wed within the space of one reckless, drink-fuelled weekend.
Luisa attracted Addhor’s attention foremost because she was keen to do most of the talking, which he found easier to manage with, being rather inexperienced around girls. He found her attractive, certainly, and enjoyed the fact that she claimed to do likewise for him. When his friends proposed to their female company he felt it would upset Luisa if he did not allow her to be similarly complimented. But he has reported in the long years since she left that he can hardly recall now what she looked like, and to be completely honest, it was more a dented pride than broken heart that caused him upset when she left. Their initial exploits were clumsy and embarrassing for both of them, but the alcohol masked most of this and neither one had any experience to compare their relationship to.
He was not, after thinking very honesty upon it, very surprised that she had eventually left him, and is to some degree rather relieved that he did not have to face the awkwardness of playing house with a relative stranger who might blame him for stealing her youth when she might have properly fallen in love with someone else, or had that career and independence she had been so looking forward to. Any ideallic notion that he would wake from his initially unconscious state to find her tending him sweetly, and their growing more close as a consequence, was hampered by the realities of their abruptly tiring reunion. It was less a case of mopping brows and being impressed by scars, and rather more a case of pain, insomnia, a bawling infant demanding attention for his own sake, and a general feeling of sinking very slowly in quicksand. She left without even a letter to explain, no doubt recognising that no ‘reason’ would really justify her escape. And when he later thought about it, Addhor was more annoyed that she had walked out on their son than on him. If he heard tomorrow that she had found a new relationship and children, he would only be bothered for the impact such news would have on Unalmis.
Addhor has only had one other ‘relationship’ and that was many many years later, after he had started to rebuild his life. A slow and steady pattern of nervous flirting grew up out of encounters with the local baker that he collected the woodworkers apprentice lunches from. Nelladel was very attractive as well as generously kind. She was a similarly single parent, of a similar age, and their daily brief encounters helped him to grow in practice and confidence at speaking with people, particularly women. Mostly it was a case of convenience again, though this time more sincere, albeit did not go very far or deep. They had a mutual friend in the form of Beren, and in time, Nelladel resumed her previous romance with him instead. She and Addhor are now settled as friends and he and Beren also remain so, It is early days but all three are conducting themselves very sensibly about the situation and there seems no bad feeling. Once again because it was clearly not a great romance, but more a situation which this time grew mostly out of habit. Honestly I don’t think he has yet met his first real love, unless it was the forest of Ithilien. I don't think he wants to be alone for the rest of his life, but he would certainly be more careful about romance these days.

